“Thy Book” and "the Hosts of the World"

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“Thou art He, O my Lord, Who hath, in every line of Thy Book, entered into covenant with them for me, and made it so sure that none of Thy creatures can any longer evade it.” 

  (Prayers and Meditations, p.180) [Emphasis added.]

n“One single letter of Thy Book is the mother of all utterances, and a word therefrom the begetter of all creation.”

(Prayers and Meditations, p. 245)  [Emphasis added.]

“hosts of the world”

n‘Know ye that by "the world" is meant your unawareness of Him Who is your Maker, and your absorption in aught else but Him.’
(Gleanings, CXXVIII, p. 276)

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n“Be watchful lest the concerns and preoccupations of this world prevent you from observing that which hath been enjoined upon you by Him Who is the Mighty, the Faithful.”  (Kitab-i-Aqdas, pp. 66-7)

[“Thy Book” appears 20 Times in P and M] /// ‘The "Book" is the record of the revealed Word of the Manifestations of God.’ (The Kitab-i-Aqdas, Notes, p. 231)

/// “Say: The Book of God hath been sent down in the form of this Youth.” (Gleanings from the Writings of Baha'u'llah, p. 104)

Ablutions with the Words of the Medium Obligatory Prayer

[Photo by BahaiPictures.com]

The Medium Obligatory Prayer

'Whoso wisheth to pray, let him wash his hands, and while he washeth, let him say:

 

“Strengthen my hand, O my God, that it may take hold of Thy Book with such steadfastness that the hosts of the world shall have no power over it. Guard it, then, from meddling with whatsoever doth not belong unto it. Thou art, verily, the Almighty, the Most Powerful.”'

"Strengthen my hand…" [singular] While one is washing  both hands seems to indicate the symbolic nature of this action.

"Thine heart is My treasury, allow not the treacherous hand of self to rob thee of the pearls which I have treasured therein. Thine hand is a symbol of My loving-kindness, hinder it not from holding fast unto My guarded and hidden Tablets..."

(Gleanings, CLII, p. 322) [Emphasis added.]

‘"Strengthen my hand" means to help us from acting dishonestly.’

(April 25, 1937, from "Notes Taken in the Presence of Shoghi Effendi in Haifa, Palestine, by Miss Agnes Alexander")

Hand – symbolic. /// We are asking, entreating, supplicating, pleading, begging: we are not insisting. Or demanding. /// Reciting any verses used during ablutions for the Medium Obligatory Prayer are not a required part of ablutions for either the Short or Long Obligatory Prayers, (but there is no prohibition on doing that). It has been a common misconception among the friends in the East. 

Hands, then face. /// 

How similar is the Medium prayer to the Islamic prayer 5 times daily? Answer I got from a devoted former Sunni Muslim who became a devoted Baha’i: “Depends: many, many versions and ways of performing it.”

Strengthen my hand…" [singular]

"Thine heart is My treasury, allow not the treacherous hand of self to rob thee of the pearls which I have treasured therein. Thine hand is a symbol of My loving-kindness, hinder it not from holding fast unto My guarded and hidden Tablets..."

(Gleanings, CLII, p. 322) [Emphasis added.]

‘"Strengthen my hand" means to help us from acting dishonestly.’

(April 25, 1937, from "Notes Taken in the Presence of Shoghi Effendi in Haifa, Palestine, by Miss Agnes Alexander")

Hand – symbolic. /// We are asking, (or in some cases), entreating, supplicating, pleading, begging: it seems that we should not be insisting or demanding. 

/// Reciting any verses that are used during ablutions for the Medium Obligatory Prayer are not part of the Short Obligatory Prayer. (But there appears to be no prohibition on doing that, preceding one's shorter prayer.] I'm told that it has been a common misconception among the friends in the East. Hands, then face. /

// How similar is the Medium prayer to the Islamic prayer 5 times daily? The Answer I got from a devoted former Sunni Muslim who became a devoted Baha’i: “It depends: there are many, many versions and ways of performing it.”